Sunday discussion - Would you go electric?

[Moto63]

Defrost a windscreen using a phone app. Whatever next???  They,ll be telling us that riding a motorcycle is the best way to beat congestion.  Hhhhmmmmm:-) :-).  Ps impressive figures tho, 4000. Squidlys saving, not bad at all

[xbr500f]

Nice comment Moto63. Made me laugh👍

Today I've had been driving a 180bhp diesel car. After 200 miles I'll be glad to get back to the electric car. Next I need to get a test drive of one of those Electric BMW motorcycles. Should be a whole load of fun!

[Propellor]

So 32hp then. Amazingly low for a car. It's bound to limit the top speed, but I'm guessing (having never driven one) that the constant torque characteristic of the motor (again I'm making an assumption) makes accelerating up to the top speed belie the fact it's only got 32hp? What will that power get you up to? Bout 70mph?

[xbr500f]

If I remember correctly the bhp figure has been assessed at about 105. 93mph is the top speed. Ample.

[xbr500f]

For info the motor is rated at 80kw. Stats from the car show that I average 15% energy regeneration from slowing down / braking.

Average mile to kWh, for me, is 4.3. I have stretched that to 6 from time to time.

Why not take Nissan up on their 2 day demo offer? If you have you own garage / drive with power, you can charge the Leaf with a 13amp / 3 pin socket. Going further will require a charge your car card to access the public charge points.

[Moto63]

To be honest I didn't realise that bmw had done a lecci motor siccle, well apart the the kiddy toy thing which surely doesn't count?? Had to google it, more like a scooter the ones that came up, apart from some very, very nice looking concept lecci bikes. (Could see one o them with a nicely tuned XBR engine installed parked in my garage)  When you watch people like mc Guinness going around the TT course on the mugen one can't help but be pretty impressed by the way these things have come on in recent years. Personally I still think the lack of engine/gearbox and exhuast note would take some of mine riding enjoyment away, however i will reserve my absolute judgement until I ride one.  Cheers.  Michael

[xbr500f]

From what I have heard about the electric motorcycles there are so fast that you don't need the distraction of the exhaust noise. It's all about riding the bike and understanding the technical aspects of the battery / power unit / regen.

I'm all for classic bikes and cars using an ICE. Would I buy a new petrol / diesel car, not a chance. The £4,000 saving I have made do far will pay for an awful lot of hire cars should I ever need to do a long journey in a short time.

[xbr500f]

A bit less full on now .... Check out YouTube for Tesla insane / ludicrous mode. 0-60 in less than 3 seconds in a saloon car 😄

[Propellor]

80kW near enough converts to 105hp.

So what is the significance of the 24kw?  There's clearly more to this than meets the eye!

[xbr500f]

24kw is the battery capacity.

[Propellor]

24kw is the battery capacity.

Total?  How many you got? 

I understand power and torque, but batteries I'm on very shaky ground!

I'm struggling to see how you get 80kW from a 24kW battery, but like I say, I don't understand batteries well enough.

I know that we can't magic up power from nowhere though, so I'm missing something. 

Cheers anyhow for being tolerant.

[iansoady]

24kw is the battery capacity.

Presumably you mean 24 Kw - hours (ie will deliver 24 Kw for an hour).

[xbr500f]

Apologies ... you are right kWh

[Propellor]

24kw is the battery capacity.

Presumably you mean 24 Kw - hours (ie will deliver 24 Kw for an hour).

Ah. That makes sense now.

So if we drive along merrily using all our motor can give, presumably 80kW, then a fully charged battery pack will last 18 minutes? Is that how it works?

Is there a limitation on the amount the battery can sustain over a reasonable time? What I'm getting at, is what sort of access do we have to the 80kW?

[xbr500f]

Initial acceleration, with the right foot planted on the floor, will use the full 80kw from the engine. When you gather speed you ease off on the throttle quite a lot.

I use the car mainly on A roads for the commute, with occasional blasts along the motorway to Glasgow. As I said earlier that averages out, with my driving style, to 4.3 miles per kWh. As the battery has 21kWh of usable power a simple calculation of 21 multiplied by 4.3 gives me an average range of 90.3 miles. For a longer run, or a faster motorway trip, I would adapt the driving style to suit my journey. Sounds like a lot of hassle but it isn't in reality.

90 miles for 21kWh of electricity, at 6.2p, works out at just over £1.30 👍😄